Teczcape-An Escape to Food

We are heading towards soup season here, as temperature starts to drop. So it's soup dish today-Winter Melon Soup.


Abeit the word "winter", winter melon is actually not a winter squash. Named winter melon because of the "sugar" concentrated on the outer green skin that resembles frost, thus the term "winter".

Winter melon is perishable when already cut and sold in wedges; compared to hairy melon/fuzzy squash typically sold whole and can keep for up to 2 weeks in the fridge. You can also use hairy melon/fuzzy for this soup if you prefer, depending on what's available in your local market.

When cooked in soups, winter melon is typically added in bigger chunks or smaller cubes. I have even "pulverized" it before but not to this extent that you cannot even see them.


Winter melon is mildly sweet and when the "puree" is added to the chicken soup at the last leg of cooking, it balances the chicken soup to perfection; more importantly, retain as much nutrients (e.g. Vitamin C) as possible. The winter melon "puree" also acts as a natural thickener to the soup - slightly thick, not as thick like a "cream-based" soup.

I was rather inspired to cook this dish after a lunch session at my friend's place. While chatting, she was also cooking at the same time. I can never "multi-task" when I am cooking. Can you multi-task while you are in the kitchen, cooking? E.g. talk to someone else in person or over the phone, text messages? I seriously can't.

This eggplant tomato dip is delicious (so good that kiddos love it!).  The spice is mild but importantly, the tangy tomatoes and sweet onions have actually hidden the often acquired taste of eggplant. Roasting the eggplant prior to making this dish has also drawn out some liquid or moisture from the eggplant, reducing the bitterness.


I did not even know what dish my friend wanted to prepare. She placed a globe eggplant in her oven to roast *we started chatting*, and in the midst of that, went back to the stove and stir-fry another vegetable dish *still chatting*. Not realizing that time has gone past, she then removed the roasted eggplant from the oven. At this time, the flesh of the eggplant has been cooked (charred) and softened. Next, she was removing the flesh from the eggplant and adding it into a simmering pot of pre-fried onions, tomatoes, spice. *still chatting*. At this instance, the dish was coming together as some kind of spiced mashed-eggplant dish.

Some days during winter months are dedicated to hotpot as tis' the season to have soups...soups and more soups to feel warmth and comfort.

This Seafood Veggies Noodle Soup is prepared from a seafood-based hotpot, full of umami goodness and nicely balanced by natural sweetness from Napa cabbage and Nai Bai.

Besides baked tempeh and incorporating tempeh in protein bowls, I have also made one-pot vegetarian protein stew with tempeh, beans and lentils. A warm hearty stew is welcoming especially during the cold winter months, so I am following cold-weather food (foot)steps and making Tempeh Soup with Moringa Leaves.


Not my favorite way to enjoy tempeh (preferred it baked like this Oven-Baked Tempeh) but when it's cold outside, a one-pot soup with everything including tempeh (and warmth, of course) is all I want! More importantly, this is a fuss-free way to prepare and cook a protein-loaded low-carb vegetarian meal, also absolutely easy to a filling and nutritious meal.

A warm and comforting soupy grain bowl is one of those grain bowls or protein bowls sought after during cool weather season, which is right now.

If Leftover Chicken Breast Salad can be prepared in 20 minutes, why not this Chicken Veggies Rice Soup?

It's end of March but some days are still chilly and cold in the high 50s. Such weather calls for soups - not stew-like winter soup but something warm yet light and soothing like this spring weather Fish and Cabbage Egg-Drop Soup.


This Fish and Cabbage Egg-Drop Soup is loaded with carrots, Napa cabbage and fresh mushrooms then finished off with egg-drop/wash, lots of fresh cilantro and final touch of fragrant sesame oil - a all-in-one side-dish soup, perfect either on its own or paired with steamed rice.

Besides incorporating this vegetarian plant-based protein into veggie bowls and salad bowls, I was just as excited to add tempeh into a bean stew (winter food!) which is quite similar to this one-pot bean stew.

Very importantly, this is a fuss-free way to prepare and cook a protein-loaded dish, which also means an absolutely easy way to a healthy and nutritious meal.


This whole package of organic tempeh packs about 40g of protein. With the addition of organic red kidney beans, it will be at least 60g of plant-based protein in this pot of spice goodness. If split into two meals or two servings, it is still a decent amount of protein per serving or meal.

It was a dark rainy day and that called for a bowl of warm congee/ rice porridge, soupy comfort yet able to fill us up.


This bowl of congee/ rice porridge is flavorful with salmon, complemented by soft-tender mountain yam and crisp-tender celery. It is not just a mass of sticky soft gruel but one which offers textures and layered flavors. The mixture and blend of grains also helps in that perfect congee consistency.

Not forgetting that the last months of the year is sweet potato season, today we have some leftover chickpea and sweet potato pureed soup made the day before, reheated the next day and served with boiled/steamed chicken dumplings*,  making this a light yet comforting one-dish meal.

Ever thought of a soupy grain bowl?

This wacky idea came to me during winter - anything I could do for a bowl of piping hot food, I will; yet staying true to the routine (of salad grain bowls). I make warm salad grain bowls quite regularly but there are still times especially when the temperature hit the low 40Fs; when warm food does not suffice and hot food is desperately desired.

Under normal circumstances, the leftover rice and rotisserie chicken would be re-heated and served with steamed vegetables to prepare grain bowls such as Asparagus Chicken Quinoa Bowl or Broccoli, Cauliflower Chicken Quinoa Bowls.


But, what if Chicken Rice Soup can be prepared instantly, in less than 10 mins? What next?

Instead of making tomato egg-drop soup (similar to Bitter Melon Egg Drop Soup, Chive Egg-Drop Soup) in which the egg is gently stirred into the soup towards the end of cooking, to create pretty, soft and silky egg swirls and ribbons;  I switched the sequence a little - first, by frying tomatoes with egg (Tomato Scrambled Eggs recipe), then adding the tomato scrambled eggs to a vegetables-based broth, making the soup of today - Tomato Egg Soup.


The sweet tomatoes impart natural umani flavors to this soup and it is absolutely delicious. Soup season is here! A comforting and satisfying one-dish noodle soup is definitely a keeper in the cooler months ahead.

Isn't that just meatballs? Why is it called Lion's Head Meatballs 红烧狮子头? This Shanghai casserole dish has such a name because the typically over-sized meatballs is like the "head of the lion" braised with surrounding Napa cabbage that resembles "the lion's mane".

For the recipe today, I have tried to simplify the preparation and cooking, hoping to achieve a healthier yet delicious dish.


First, for those who avoids deep-frying at home, this lion head meatball recipe shares a over-roasted meatball version that eases up stove-top deep-frying. Second, the meatballs are of standard meatball size (not over-sized) so that cooking or baking time can be easily managed. For example, if you deep-fry a gigantic meatball, it takes a much longer time to cook through the meat compared to smaller meatballs.

I am still into salad and grain bowls; but there is always more reasons to make soup, braise or stew (braise or stew - what's the difference?) in this cold weather. Nothing beats a warm and hearty pot of vegetables and beans, worth the effort just so for the extra comfort and satisfaction in the chilly nights.

Today, the extra effort goes to this pot of Braised Quail, Beans and Tomatoes. Frankly I was intimidated when I set my eyes on the pack of frozen quail in the store. Would it be too gamey? I have never handled quail in the kitchen. Not that I have not tried game meats such as quail, squab or bison, but I will order them in eateries/restaurants where they have been prepped by professional chefs.

Nothing beats fresh produce. Though flash-frozen vegetables have been said to have nutrients locked at source and comparable to fresh vegetables in terms of nutrition, frozen vegetables often end up as back-ups, reserves or for emergencies especially when one is pressed for cooking time e.g. Artichoke and Pea Pizza using frozen vegetables.

Likewise for beans, the texture, taste (and price) of dried beans cannot beat their canned counterparts. But let's say you have 30 minutes to whip up something quick? Something quick like a creamy bean soup, perhaps? And 30 minutes starting from prep. to a done dish.


With dried beans, that can never be achieved. Eliminating the step that dried beans usually needs to be soaked overnight, cooking pre-soaked beans to tender already takes at least 20-30 minutes. In that sense, canned beans do come in handy, very handy. Well, making homemade bean soup in 30 minutes or less, is an intermediate solution - for those who do no have time (or plan) to make the soup from scratch using dried beans; and for those who does not succumb to ready-made canned bean soups which often (and in many cases) are high in sodium and may contain a list of undesirable ingredients.

So, get a good quality (e.g. organic, low sodium) canned beans - that is surely an easier task to finding a good quality canned soup and make a good enough tasty chunky bean soup using some of these cheat-sheets tips e.g. (1) adding some salsa or pasta sauce to create some flavor complexity and intensity; (2) adding fresh tomatoes, onions and garlic and even fresh herbs for...FRESHNESS, (3) pureeing part of the soup for "creaminess" and (4) keeping some beans whole for texture profile. Then think about it, all these found in a soup made in just about 30 minutes?  Bonus, bonus AND bonus!

When I tasted my own kimchi jjigae for the first time, I thought "what is the difference between this and soon doo bu"? Both taste similar. Kimchi jjigae just belong to a bigger umbrella of jjigae variety - jjigae refers to a savory hearty Korean stew.


Traditionally soon doo bu is a spicy Korean stew cooked in a soup broth made with red pepper paste and red chili flakes and the main ingredient is soft tofu. Kimchi jjigae is a soup base made from kimchi, and a base so versatile layered with tofu, vegetables (e.g. napa cabbage, leeks), mushrooms, and seafood or meat.


There is nothing quite like coming home to a simmering pot of spicy stew in the cold winter months. The spice heat, and stew heat will instantly warm you up. Moreover, the kimchi base yields a subtly-sour soup that actually whets your appetite even more.

Soy-bean broth or stock is quite versatile and I absolutely enjoy it as a light-tasting broth for green vegetables e.g. Chinese Broccoli Soup.


For this soup (adapted from Chinese Broccoli Soup), some carrots were boiled in the broth till cooked, then baby kale and some leftover pan-fried tofu were added.


Baby kale is supposed to be milder-tasting and less bitter compared to kale. To be used in this soup, I added the baby kale only after the heat from the pot was turned off; then add the baby kale, cover the pot and allow the remaining heat to cook the baby kale.

This recipe is similar to Seaweed, Fresh Shiitake Mushrooms and Spinach Soup, however made simpler this time (without spinach) with wakame seaweed and two kinds of mushrooms - fresh shiitake mushrooms and bunashimeiji beech mushrooms.

To save time, fresh mushrooms are added directly to a simmering pot of soup. However, if you have a little more time on hand, mushrooms are more fragrant (making the soup more flavorful) when lightly sauteed before they are added to the soup.

Red globe radishes (樱桃萝卜/小红萝卜) are easy to use in curry-in-a-hurry in which the radish leaves can be used at the same time; add the raw sharp-flavored radish leaves towards the end of cooking to mellow down its peppery flavors.


I usually do not peel these red globe radishes, as beneficial anti-oxidant allyl-isothiocyanates - the compound that makes the radish peppery and pungent - is concentrated in the peel. Simply rinse to clean the root thoroughly, trim the tip ends. If you have to peel the skin, gently pare away/scrape the superficial thin layer only, with the blunt back of a knife.

This is called Soup-Curry because it is not the kind of thick stew-like curry made from any curry paste or coconut cream. Instead it is more like a spiced tomato-based soup that gets a little kick from a mixture of spices e.g. curry powder, turmeric, coriander and cumin.

Mild and harmless-looking, this is not your usual noodle soup. The kick of Thai red chili and Chinese black vinegar can just wake up your senses anytime of the day. So never judge a book by its cover.


Not the Szechuan hot (spicy) and sour soup that you may order off the menu of a Chinese restaurant; however, the spice and sourness is as close as it gets.